My Best Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Photos – So Far
I finally decided to share my best Scissor-tailed Flycatcher photos that I've taken since my move. I created a gallery and hope to get more photos of them soon.
I finally decided to share my best Scissor-tailed Flycatcher photos that I've taken since my move. I created a gallery and hope to get more photos of them soon.
While I visited my friend Steve in Arkansas, I was happy to hear, see, and take a few Great Crested Flycatcher photos in his yard and at the refuge in Oklahoma.
On Sunday I had a wonderful opportunity to photograph an adult Willow Flycatcher up close when it landed very near my vehicle high in the Wasatch Mountains.
Yesterday morning I spent a few minutes with a cooperative adult Willow Flycatcher in a willow thicket high in the Wasatch Mountains.
There is a story behind these Dusky Flycatcher photos that I took earlier this week while I sat in my Jeep next to a creek in the Wasatch Mountains.
This creekside Willow Flycatcher photo was a highlight and my favorite photo that I took yesterday while I was high in the mountains looking for birds.
While I was out in the West Desert of Utah yesterday I thought about my friend Billy Fenimore and his family as I photographed this adult Gray Flycatcher.
Listening to an adult Say's Phoebe singing in low light on Antelope Island State Park two days ago was a true auditory delight for my ears.
I-80 runs east/west through Parleys Canyon and just after 1 pm a catalytic convertor ejected hot particles along the roadside which started the #ParleysCanyonFire.
Yesterday morning I was able to spend time taking Willow Flycatcher photos high in the mountains with clear skies overhead as I watched the flycatchers hunting for prey.
I haven't had many opportunities to take Willow Flycatcher photos so far this year but two days ago I had one in my view finder and took images of it.
I think Rufous-bellied Phoebe would be a great name instead of Say's Phoebe, with or without the hyphen. It is certainly more descriptive.
The last time I was up in the Wasatch Mountains I heard several "FITZ-bew" calls but didn't see a single Willow Flycatcher out in the open.
The calls of a Say's Phoebe are among the sounds I listen for in March and they are the first members of the tyrant flycatcher family I see each year in northern Utah.
I took forty-eight photos of this flycatcher three days ago as it watched for flying insects from its perch and I realized that these might be the last Willow Flycatcher photos that I take this year.
I only had two minutes with these immature Eastern Kingbirds and I felt I had to make every second I had with them in my viewfinder count. I succeeded.
Three days ago I was thoroughly delighted when an adult Willow Flycatcher that had been hiding behind a branch flew in for a nice series of close up photos.
Obtaining decent photos of Willow Flycatchers in the Wasatch Mountains has been harder and more challenging for me this year than last and there are a few reasons for that.
One of the birds I was excited to see and photograph yesterday morning was an adult Eastern Kingbird perched on a pickleweed next to the road.
Over time I have come to associate Say's Phoebes with sagebrush because I don't think I have ever seen or photographed one of these phoebes where there wasn't sage nearby here in northern Utah.
Once I'm in Willow Flycatcher habitat the next thing I do is to listen for them. I often hear Willow Flycatchers before I see them because they can blend into their habitat well.
While I was up in Box Elder County, Utah four days ago I spotted my first of season Western Kingbirds chasing each other around in flight near a ranch.
As it turns out this flycatcher gave me a wonderful behavioral clue that made identifying it a little easier for me because I watched it wag its tail slowly up and down repeatedly while perched which Gray Flycatchers are known to do.
It seems that I have spent a lot of time photographing Willow Flycatchers this year and I am happy that I have because I enjoying taking photos of these flycatchers.
It is always a thrill for me to photograph Say's Phoebes so when I spotted a family group of them yesterday morning in northern Utah I was delighted.
My persistence and knowledge of a Willow Flycatcher's territory paid off again yesterday morning when the flycatcher flew in close and landed on a willow branch not far from where I sat in my Jeep.
The Willow Flycatcher perched out in the open high on a shrub with a clear blue sky in the background and I didn't even mind the foliage and branches behind and above the bird.
Because of a two part call, FITZ-bew, I had no trouble identifying a flycatcher that I saw, photographed and heard yesterday morning in the Wasatch Mountains as a Willow Flycatcher.
I am glad I didn't rush to report a Least Flycatcher along with the Baltimore Oriole when this little empid is actually a Dusky Flycatcher and a photographic lifer for me.
Juvenile Western Kingbirds may look sweet like this one does perched on a fence but they can be rather pushy when it comes to demanding food from their parents and they are also quite noisy too while they are begging.